With the increased availability of different smart devices that access the internet, many new applications have been developed that leverage internet connectivity. The Internet of Things (IoT) is a phrase given for the interconnection of computing devices scattered around the globe within the existing internet infrastructure. IoT devices may be embedded in a variety of products, such as home appliances, manufacturing devices, printers, automobiles, thermostats, smart traffic lights, etc. Many client devices make use of a long-lived connection with a server in order to stream data from the client device to the server and from the server to the client device whenever data needs to be transmitted (e.g., publish-subscribe communication). The continuously open connection allows a server to consistently send data to a connected client without the client continuously polling for new data from the server.
When a server needs to be rebooted, a client device with a long-lived connection to the server loses the connection. Therefore, the client device will not send or receive data until a new connection is established. In many cases, a single server may maintain a large number of long-lived connections with many different client devices. Thus, a significant workload may be placed on a particular server due to many client devices transmitting a large volume of data within a short period of time.
While embodiments are described herein by way of example for several embodiments and illustrative drawings, those skilled in the art will recognize that embodiments are not limited to the embodiments or drawings described. It should be understood, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit embodiments to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope as defined by the appended claims. The headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description or the claims. As used throughout this application, the word “may” is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words “include,” “including,” and “includes” mean including, but not limited to.